Greetings from Week Five....

[Miles_Yonder]

Week Five, Run One, to be prexact.

Greetings all C25Kers.

I must say, when I awoke at 0403 this morning, I was so tired that I really, really didn't want to get up at all. For a second, a very brief second I considered staying in bed. After all it could have been raining/snowing/have been a hurricane/civil war declared. Best to stay in bed, surely? BUT, BUT, Laura is waiting for me! She's expecting me for W5R1, I HAVE to get up. So I did. I know my own routine by now; for the first ten minutes or so of being up at that time I'm barely functioning, but by the time I've had a drink of delicious sparkling water, been up for a short while and had my pre-run snack of rice cake and peanut butter (and today two figs!) I'm good to go and feeling energetic. And, thankfully, today was no different. By the time I was out the door I felt raring and ready for it.

Turns out war hadn't been declared, nor had natural disaster occurred overnight. That I could see, anyway.

I turned Laura on, (!) and off I went for my warm-up walk. Lovely crisp, mild morning as I walked briskly along, wondering how I'd cope with week five. See that long, big, gradual hill up there? Well, I'm going to run up that.

Three minutes later..... What the hell made me think this would be a good idea?! Shall I about-turn and descend rapidly? No, two minutes of the first run left, keep going, good sir. Keep going; you can call for an ambulance at the top if necessary, just keep going. And I did. Keep going, I mean, not telephone for the services of a medical professional.

I'm glad I tackled the hill first off; made the rest of the run feel easy in comparison. And I did it; I got through feeling quite good and positive about it all. The latter part of the final five minutes of running required a lot of energy and a big push, but it's done now and onward to run two. Good job I don't have to run for twenty minutes straight on Friday, isn't it?!

Oh, wait..................................

On my last report I mentioned the aches which were causing a concern; thankfully these appear to just be muscular and nothing too much to worry about. Lots of calf stretches over the weekend and from now on should help but I must do something about calf (in)flexibility and tight muscles in general but so far it doesn't seem too serious, I don't think.

So onward now to run two. I hope everyone else is doing well and making good progress; I know there's a good few others in sync and on the same run as me this morning so hopefully they, and everyone else no matter what run they're on, got through okay and feeling good about things.

And for now, rest! Well, work!

[Redskins03 Graduate]

Well done Miles for getting up and going out this morning. Those first few moments before we drag ourselves out of bed are the hardest.

The runs went well this morning, no issues and looking forward to run 2. All the best for that

[Miles_Yonder Graduate]

Morning, Redskins. Glad to hear your W5 debut went well too without incident. You're right, it's just the getting out of bed initially that's the issue! Well done on your run today and good luck for Wednesday!

[e174 Graduate]

Well done sir, good show old chap and more nonsense of that ilk! Having looked at the rest of the posts this morning I myself am looking forward to the day I open the curtains to find the zombie apocalypse has started, apparently us joggers are better prepared than the other doomed mortals!

Brilliant on starting w5 now go and reward yourself with a day at work (go on.....treat yourself)

Em

[Miles_Yonder Graduate in reply to e174]

Why thank you kindly, Em! Yes, apparently so; I fully expect one day to find a zombie apocalypse has occurred and on the streets, zombie-dodging, are lots of runners, going about our running business, some of us listening to Laura tell us that we only have one minute left to run and that the feeling of pushing through any zombie attack outweighs the urge to stop and catch our breath!

[spoonierunning Graduate]

Well done. At 4 in the morning I'm afraid I would have just told myself it's insane and gone back to sleep. Good luck with the rest of week 5, oh and that last run totally doable, I know cause I did it.

[Miles_Yonder Graduate in reply to spoonierunning]

Thank you, Spoonie; I'm strangely looking forward to it in a way! I think it is a bit insane getting up at such a time, but it's the only time I can fit my run around work really. Mind you, I still get up at that time to run on a Bank Holiday even though I'm off work so don't really have to!

[AncientMum Graduate]

Great post, really made me smile. I was just the same this morning- shall I get up? Shall I have a snooze? No, gotta go, Laura's waiting! How would we cope without that woman to motivate us? Well done on getting through w5r1, enjoy the rest of your day!

[Miles_Yonder Graduate in reply to AncientMum]

Cheers! Yes, Laura is great motivation; how on earth can we keep her waiting?! She does a fine job with her motivational duties!

[runner56 Graduate]

Well done miles. I enjoyed the run this morning. At the end of the final 5 I hadnt yet gotten to the lamp post I had set as my target so continued on for an extra 45 seconds or so.

Fingers crossed Wednesday goes as well for all of us week fivers

[Miles_Yonder Graduate in reply to runner56]

Glad you enjoyed your run this morning too, Runner56! Ah, you do that too?! I also set a target like a lamp post and continue to it even if it's time to walk! Congratulations on getting through this morning and the very best of luck for Wednesday!

[Treemouse Graduate]

Well done all! My W5R1went better than expected so I'm not feeling quite so apprehensive about things and have decided to put my trust in Laura (it took a while!) To those beautifully turned out visions in pink who ran past me this morning I am truly sorry; I still haven't broken the news to My Fitness Pal that I had an Indian takeaway last night, and I imagine that I left a yellow, bhuna scented vapour trail as I ran today. Roll on Wednesday, and good luck everyone

[Miles_Yonder Graduate in reply to Treemouse]

Tee hee! Glad you had a great run too this morning Treemouse; I also hope that Wednesday goes brilliantly for you too, which, of course, it will! I think a Sunday takeaway is acceptable, by the way, even if My Fitness Pal disagrees! Soon you will be the one overtaking other runners, that stage is not too far off now!

It'll soon be Wednesday!

[Miles_Yonder Graduate]

Thank you, Kitty! Glad I succeeded in raising a laugh! I promise you and assure you, if I can become a morning person, ***ANYONE*** can! All my life I've been nocturnal and a self-confessed hater of early starts but since I started running I've really come to enjoy getting up early. I do like a nice lie-in but will get up early to busy myself and make an early start with something. I quite enjoy the early mornings now, which is something I never thought I would say!

[ju-ju- Graduate]

Well done... That's so flipping early!! I love your pre run snacky snacks

[Miles_Yonder Graduate]

Thank youuuuu, JJ! I look forward to my pre-run snacking now, almost as much as I look forward to the mid-morning grapes and Mini Babybel! I'll have to watch it with the peanut butter though; it's getting addictive!

[Hidden]

Well done on getting out there and starting your W5. Good luck with the next two runs and best wishes.